


The one where Laurel becomes Zoe's favorite aunt

by AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Dinah is surprised, F/F, Just some self indulging silliness for a friend, Laurel is good with kids, aunt!Laurel, pre-relationship if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23096905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/pseuds/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard
Summary: “Remind me again why I agreed to this in the first place?”“Out of the kindness of your heart?”“Doubtful.”orThe one where Laurel is surprisingly good with kids, Dinah is absolute baffled and Zoe gets a new favorite aunt!
Relationships: Dinah Drake & Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	The one where Laurel becomes Zoe's favorite aunt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SuperStitious18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/gifts).



> Just a little quick something something I wrote to cheer up a friend ♥
> 
> Hope this makes your day a little brighter! 
> 
> Thanks @WardenRoot for the beta :* (and the idea fhghgfh)

“Remind me again why I agreed to this in the first place?”

“Out of the kindness of your heart?”

“Doubtful.”

Dinah rolls her eyes for the nth time as she and Laurel make their way up the narrow staircase of Rene’s apartment building to his floor. There’d been no hesitation on her part when Rene had called earlier to ask if she could watch Zoe that afternoon, but of course luck had it that  _ Laurel Lance  _ of all people had shown up at the precinct just as Dinah was making her way out to ask her if she would like to grab some dinner with her later. And because she doesn’t get to see Laurel that much these days - the woman had gone back to her own earth after all - Dinah suggested she’d tag along with. It’s not like she’d expected Laurel to  _ actually say yes  _ to it, and though they haven’t even made it to Rene’s apartment, Dinah’s already regretting all her decisions  _ dearly _ .

When they finally make it to the right door, Dinah pauses to look at Laurel. “Just remember she’s only a kid, Laurel, so please  _ be nice _ .”

Laurel crosses her arms above her chest and scoffs at her words. “I  _ am _ nice.”

“Right…” 

Dinah just shakes her head and fishes the keys out of her coat’s pocket, and the second she unlocks the door and pushes it open, Zoe comes rushing in towards her with a smile on her face. 

“Aunt Dinah!” she greets, immediately throwing her arms around Dinah’s waist for a hug. 

She reciprocates the hug and smiles back. “Hey, kiddo. How was school today?”

“Was okay for the most part. Our teacher was a bit ill so we didn’t get to do much… But hey at least I have no homework.”

“No homework, uh? Lucky girl.” Dinah lets go of Zoe and glances towards where Laurel’s still awkwardly standing by the open door, watching the exchange with an unreadable expression on her face. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a friend with me today.” Not so subtly, Dinah nudges Laurel closer, so she can properly introduce her. “Zoe, this is my friend, Laurel.”

The girl’s face lights up the moment her eyes fall on Laurel. “Nice to meet you, Laurel.”

Laurel is still looking awfully defensive and stiff. “Likewise,” is all she says in response, and Dinah has to push down the urge to roll her eyes. 

“So how about you go find something fun for us to do while me and Laurel talk for a second?”

“Sure!”

Dinah watches Zoe disappear towards her room, and when she’s sure the girl is out of earshot her smile falls. She turns around to push the door close and shoots a glance towards Laurel as she does. “You know she’s just a kid and won’t bite you, right?”

“Funny.”

“I’m serious, Laurel. Just try and play nice with her, okay? Please?”

“... Fine,” Laurel says as she brushes past her towards the small living room. “But only because you asked so nicely.” 

******

Dinah’s nowhere near prepared for the massive turn the afternoon ends up taking.

Laurel is still acting very much closed off and stiff around Zoe for the first hour they spend together, but the longer they interact, the more she starts to open up and relax. Her shoulders drop and she becomes significantly more affectionate towards the girl, and Dinah has to pinch herself to make sure she’s not imagining things when Laurel simply flashes a warm smile when Zoe refers to her as ‘aunt Laurel’. 

She even offers to make some pancakes when Zoe complains she could use a snack, much to the girl’s delight and Dinah’s utter bafflement. 

Dinah stands back and watches them make an absolute mess out of the kitchen, their laughter echoing through the small space in waves. There’s flour on every single surface - including on themselves - and Dinah just shakes her head and loudly declares she’s not taking any part in cleaning. 

Laurel throws a handful of flour in her direction for the trouble and further chaos ensues when Dinah reaches for the whole bag and declares war.

They’re all in a  _ very sorry state _ when they finally get to sit down around Rene’s small dining table to eat the pancakes Laurel has made, and Dinah ends up letting out a barely contained pleasurable noise when she takes her first bite out of the sugary treat on plate. She almost chokes when she sees Laurel let out a gasp and reaches out to cover Zoe’s ears in response. “Dinah!” she says in indignation. “There’s a child in here!” 

“Laurel!” she hisses out. “Was that really necessary?”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be babysitting instead of making obscene noises in front of the kid.”

She doesn’t dignify it with anything more than an annoyed eye roll and a head shake. Dinah catches Zoe looking between the two of them with an amused expression on her face, and she’s not sure she wants to know what the kid’s thinking.

Or what she may tell her dad later. 

Cleaning up the flour from literally  _ everything  _ Rene owns proves to be quite a challenge, but the three of them work together to make sure the apartment is spotless before he comes back. Dinah’s just finishing putting the clean dishes in the drying rack when she catches the tail end of Zoe asking Laurel a multitude of personal questions, most of them concerning her vigilante life. 

“Aunt Laurel, are you also a vigilante like aunt Dinah and dad?”

They exchange a look across the room, and Dinah doesn’t really expect Laurel to reply to it, let alone actually tell Zoe the truth. But she does. 

“Yeah I am.”

“That’s so cool! What do you go by?”

There’s a pause, like Laurel is digesting her next words carefully. “I’m the Black Canary, actually.”

The confusion on Zoe’s face is instant. “I thought aunt Dinah was the Black Canary…” The girl frowns and looks between the two of them, as if she’s trying to figure out if Laurel’s telling the truth. “Are there two Canaries then?”

“It’s a bit of a more complex explanation than that, sweetie,” Dinah speaks up. “But yeah, there’s two Canaries.”

“Oh, that’s really awesome!” Her attention is solemnly focused on Laurel now. “Do you also have a cry? Can you show me how it works?”

“Sure, what do you want destroyed-”

Dinah quickly sets down a glass on the counter harder than she should have, interrupting Laurel. “Absolutely  _ not. _ ”

******

They’re all hurdled up on the couch watching TV with a blanket draped over them, Zoe sitting in the middle of them, when the sound of a key jiggling into the keyhole is heard. The door is pushed open, revealing a smiling Rene, who ends up freezing on the spot the second he spots Laurel and she gives him a little wave. Zoe nearly flies out of the couch to give her dad a hug, and Dinah has the decency to actually look sheepish when he gives her a questioning look. 

“I’m so glad you’re back, dad!” Zoe says. “I had a lot of fun with aunt Dinah and aunt Laurel today!”

“Oh, did you now?” He raises an eyebrow, his eyes still on Dinah. “I’m glad to hear that, peanut.”

As Zoe narrates the events of the day, Rene keeps shooting incredulous looks towards both Dinah and Laurel, the latter just shrugging with a hint of a far too pleased smirk on her lips. The girl finishes her story with a flourish and it’s well noticeable the way Rene’s still having a hard time  _ understanding and believing  _ that his daughter has suddenly taken quite the shine to Laurel. 

Dinah can’t blame him at all - she was also completely taken aback by how good Laurel seems to be with kids, but again she did mention her sister being pregnant before. 

Rene invites them to stay for dinner, but Laurel is the one who politely refuses. “I’m really sorry but I came all the way from my earth to have dinner with Dinah.” She glances over at her, and winks. “So I think we’ll have to pass on that offer.”

That earns them some more odd looks from both father and daughter, and Dinah really wishes she could dig a hole to hide into. 

And as if that wasn’t bad enough already…

“Can aunt Laurel watch me again sometime soon, dad? Please!”

The absolute look of victory in Laurel’s eyes when she meets Dinah’s gaze tells her everything she needs to know - Laurel was aiming to be Zoe’s favorite aunt all along.

_ And she won.  _


End file.
